Behaviour change, technology and the low carbon economy Aimie Hope, Keelan Meade and Colin Whittle 29 th January 2015
Environment Behaviour Research Group Smart citizens Compensatory beliefs Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield Technology acceptance and behavioural change Sustainable fashion Wind farm acceptance Acceptance of Solarthermal Colin Whittle, Aimie Hope, Dr Chris Jones, Dr Natalie McCreesh, James Williams, Agnes Bray & Keelan Meade
Keelan Meade BEHAVIOUR CHANGE AND TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE: NATIONAL LEVEL
Understanding the Cumulative Landscape and Visual Impact of Wind Turbines in the UK Keelan Meade, Dr Christopher Jones, Prof. Eckart Lange Email: k.meade@sheffield.ac.uk Website: windnet.org.uk
Onshore Wind Energy: Overview Cheapest source of energy (EU Commission 2014) Factoring in air quality, climate change, toxicity 15% renewable energy by 2020 (DECC, 2013) Wind Power to play a major role 13GW onshore by 2020 Economic Impacts (DECC & Renewable UK, 2012) 8,600 jobs and 548 million GVA across UK in 2011 2,400 jobs and 85 million in GVA through income effects (spending by employees) 15,000 jobs and 900 million combined under 13GW scenario 2020 targets
Installed Wind Power in the UK Source: RenewableUK (2014) Percentage of rejected applications in the UK Source: Fabian Society (2014)
Public/Media Reaction
Methods: Previous Research Interview/Focus Groups Surveys Photomontages Simulations
Participants: - 75 Students (1-5: Dislike Like) Data Collection - NEP & Wind Turbine Questionnaire - EDA/SCR, Eye movement Video Clips - Panning across landscape NW of Stocksbridge (L-R & R-L) Study 1 & 2
Real -vs- Simulation
Skin Conductance Response Real Simulation
Net Dwell Time Real Simulation
Visual Impact Energy Output Noise & Health
Colin Whittle BEHAVIOUR CHANGE AND TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE: CITY LEVEL
Are Citizens Prepared for Smart Cities? Colin Whittle Dr Christopher Jones Dr Aidan While Contact: cgwhittle1@shef.ac.uk
Urbanisation Challenges Expansion of urban areas: 50% of the world s population 67% by 2050 (United Nations, 2011). Consequences: Air pollution, environmental degradation, resource demand (International Energy Agency, 2008; Maeda & Hirose, 2009; Satterthwaite, 2007, 2008); Socioeconomic inequality (Alathur, Ilavarasan, & Gupta, 2011) Health risks (Alathur, Ilavarasan, & Gupta, 2011). Globalisation: greater national and international competition for resources, skilled workers (Tranos & Gertner, 2012). Cities need to evolve!
Smart Cities continuing the long-standing practice of improving the operational efficiency and quality of life of a city by building on advances in Information Technologies (Harrison et al., 2010). Highly connected infrastructure/services Economic competitiveness (Lombardi, Porter, Barber, & Rogers, 2011). Tackle challenges of urbanisation (Mosannenzadeh & Vettorato, 2014) Developing globally e.g. The Barcelona Smart City programme and Bristol Smart City Estimated market for smart technologies 1 The smart energy technologies market (including smart grid) will reach $220 billion worldwide by 2020. Smart transport - $156 billion 1 All sources for estimates are available in SMART CITIES: Background Paper (2013). Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
Progressing Smart Cities Focus on technologies rather than their integration e.g., into businesses (Belissent, 2010). Public acceptance - potential barrier to the smart technology market (Smart Cities and Communities- EIP, 2012). Benefits rely on changes in the behaviour of the citizens (Goulden et al., 2014) Smart Citizens: Making consumption decisions based on their real-time energy use (i.e. smart metres) Selecting different travel options based on real-time traffic information (Harrison and Donnelly, 2011). Understanding citizens needs and preparedness to accept smart technologies will be critical to smart technology uptake and optimal usage.
Are Citizens Prepared? What will influence smart technology acceptance? Are smart technologies different? Buy-in from citizens into energy conservation lifestyle What are the attitudes and values that will drive citizen acceptance of smart technologies and motivate them to use the technology optimally (behaviour change)? Smart Fridge Smart Meters Smart washing machine
Aimie Hope BEHAVIOUR CHANGE AND TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE: INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
Aimie Hope, Ph.D. student Dr Chris Jones, Dr Tom Webb, Dr Matt Watson
Context We need to promote a range of behaviours as entry points in helping different groups to make their lifestyles more sustainable including catalytic (or wedge ) behaviours DEFRA 2008 Personal travel: 25% of total CO 2 emissions Committee on Climate Change, 2014 Domestic: largest electricity consumer in 2013 (113.5 TWh) DEFRA, Statistical Press Release 2014 Behavioural change required but can be difficult to achieve! (e.g., Abrahamse, Steg et al. 2005)
Justifying counterproductive behaviours I can enjoy a delicious cake today and eat healthily tomorrow! Dilemma! What happens when our goals conflict? Temptation, motivation, self-identity, self-efficacy Compensatory beliefs
insidious cognitive strategy (Kronick & Knauper, 2010) Balance: minimising harm & maximising pleasure Rabiau, Knauper, Miquelton, 2006 Risk: inaccurate, failure to follow through Self-regulation failure: Diabetes control, smoking, dieting e.g., Rabiau et al, 2009, Radtke at al 2011, Kronick et al 2011 Consumer behaviour e.g., Dhar and Simonson, 1999
Compensatory Green Beliefs Mental accounting/informal carbon offsetting It is okay to leave the lights on if you use low-energy light bulbs It does not matter how much energy you use if you are on a green energy tariff Recycling compensates for driving a car
Exploring compensatory green beliefs Did people have compensatory green beliefs? When, why and how? Attitudes to compensating? Method: Cognitive and semistructured interviews
I m hoping to have a more positive effect on the environment or less of a negative effect, if you like [ ] I try to look at it like a sum of all parts rather than each individual activity. (P36, female, 22-34 years)
I found that one of the supermarkets was doing carrier bag recycling and I took them down to recycle and I thought well that s kind of made up for it a little bit. I just think I feel better myself for doing it. (P10, female, 22 to 34 years)
If I m put on the spot and if I was being interrogated about: how much are you contributing? I d inevitably drift into selfjustification-style language. (P13, male, 45-54 years)
I see no reason why people wouldn t recycle because all the facilities are available. I think if there s nothing blocking you doing it, then you do have that moral obligation to do it. (P36, female, 22-34 years)
Summary Low Carbon Economy: requires new technologies/increased renewables Technology acceptance and adoption Effective technologies require changes in the collective behaviour of society Thank you for listening. aimie.hope@sheffield.ac.uk, k.meade@sheffield.ac.uk, cgwhittle1@sheffield.ac.uk, +44(0)1142226641